Have you ever recieved a gift from someone and not appreciated it, Then over time found yourself falling completely in love with the gift? Well this perfectly embodies my first "Dubstep" experience. Now many of you reading this may say, "What Is Dubstep?" In my own opinion Dubstep is a genre of music that can best be described as Bass Heavy Reggae mixed with minimal / breakbeat elements. Like my first encounters with minimal and Drum & Bass I was not completely sure what to expect of Kode9's music.

So on a freezing saturday afternoon I'm given the privilege of catching Kode9's sound check. Now the weather is so cold at this point that its almost unbearable; then to make matters worse the main door is locked! So as I stand there having seizure like shivers waiting for someone to open up I realize that theres a gap in the door. My curiousity over comes me and I put my head against it to hear whats going on inside. A faint melodic wail doused with low bass growl's slightly fill my ear. Finnaly the door is opened and I head up the stairs of club Bonbon only to feel the bass getting harder and harder.

Upon first enter of the Dubstep Master's lair I was intrigued. In order to prepare my self for dubstep I accustomed my self to some online radio shows. But those tunes were completely different from Kode9's selection. Dubstep fills the room and Im already in a love / hate relationship. But as time goes by Im completely overwhelmed by the music. The bass thumps against my chest like a well precisioned kick, over and over again, while at the same time pleasing my ears with eerie melodies and reggae vocals! At this point in time im fixated on the DJ's mixing, while my imagination places a skilled MC by his side.
The sound check ends and I find my self dissapointed. Not because I didnt enjoy the music, but because It had ended! It then clicks in my head that I really dig dubstep.

Im reminded of my Drum&Bass rave days back in Los Angeles where I learned what bass really is. If theres one complaint Ive always had about the clubs here in shanghai, It would be the bass. In my personal opinion bass should rock you, it should make you dance when your not even trying, and most importantly it should hurt damn it!

AM goes to PM sooner then I realize and Im heading out to club Bonbon. Before heading to the backroom I decide to catch a portion of DJ Jazzy Jeff's set. Now Ill be completely honest. Though hip hop is not really my scene anymore, I must say Jazzy Jeff played a great set. With a tune selection consisting of a nice mix between Top 40's / Booty Shakers / & The Classics. He definetly won me over when he played my personal anthem *yeah right* Big Pun - Still Not a Player and some Tupac.

Im not going to lie, I was totally expecting Carlton to come out and start dancing on the speakers, and then to end the set Uncle Phil would come out and throw Jazzy Jeff out the front door!

A beer or two later im in the backroom grooving to the melodic ragga tunes of Dji while MC Didje lyrically compliments the room by spitting some hot FAYA!
Little does the crowd know that their being braced for the subwoofer assault of the Dubstep Master. With the proper introduction from MC Didje Kode9 is on delivering an assault of Dubsteppage to the familiar and unfamiliar. The brutal bass lines and dark melodies bring out the animal in each and every person in the room. As the acclimated dance the night away, while the newbies adjust their moves to this foreign sound.
MC Didje takes up the mic and begins to integrate his poetry with Kode9's art while dancing in the middle of the crowd; Creating a vibe as heavy as the bass flowing from the speakers. The bass was literally so intense that it actually blew a frame off of one of the speakers. As the night goes by more & more hip hop fans begin to flood the room to get a taste of this new sound called Dubstep, while the the original steppers keep it locked on the dance floor. Kode9 brings it to an end around 3 AM and is all smiles as the crowd cheers him on. The decks change ownership as DJ siesta steps up to the plate unleashing some wicked DNB and the pent up aggression of all the steppers.
The night is perfect and in great tempo. Everyone is happy, smiling, and most importantly dancing like drunken idiots!

Seeing Kode9 in action reminded me of something that often occurs in action movies. You have your regular gun slinging heroes and then you have your unique hero. The unique hero brings an eccentric weapon to the battlefield * Like Desperados guitar case gun or Indiana Jone's whip* and kicks some serious ass. This is Kode9, the unique hero who brought a new weapon to the field. His arsenal? A unique and upcoming genre of music called Dubstep that people love. With its pure sound, unique melodies, and vast style its clear that Dubstep is on its way to becoming a staple in the music scene with pioneers like Kode9 Leading the way. Thank you Kode9 for your performance and a big up for being such a class act!"